Hi Nick,

Take a visit to the other side ofthe river from Alstetten - Zurich - Hoengg. It's got a really nice village feel to it (well in some ways, it is still) with a nice big coop and other required things.

Tram 13 goes that way. It's up the hill and is really woody. I guess cycling up would be tiring, but going down would be fun and probably within the 30min cycling time.

But it's worth checking out. Wipkingen might be another option, especially the bits near the river. Though having said that, Alstetten isn't bad either, near the river.

~ Nanda.